A New Chapter
by Caljumaia
Summary: Ida never wanted to be apart of this world; her being there was a complete accident in the first place. Why is it so hard to go home? Thorin X OC
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, first fanfic here. I deleted my story because I wanted to redo it, so if you read on to Chapter 2 (which I hope you want to!) and it sounds familiar, that's why. **

**Disclaimer: This fiction is partially inspired by the story**_** Inkheart **_**by Cornelia Funke. If you've read the series then you can probably guess how it's inspired. If you don't have a clue it will be explained later. Or read the books; they're pretty great. Also, I do not in any way own **_**The Hobbit.**_** That privilege belongs to J. R. R. Tolkein.**

Chapter 1

It was another clear winter day in the city of Dale. The weather was especially mild for this time of year, meaning everyone had the chance to be out that day. The market place was full of people, weaving through one another to get to various shops or sell their own goods. Beautiful items were on display, ranging from the most vibrant of silks to jewelry covered in gems that sparkled in the sunlight.

Little children ran through adult's legs, chasing one another with swords. Kites were flying in the clear skies all around the city. Streamers lined all the archways, all the colors under the rainbow on display.

Laughter and merriment filled the city air. It was a full-blown celebration, and there was a good reason for it.

This day and year marked 30 years since the great dragon Smaug was vanquished.

After the Battle of Five Armies, the Thorin and his company helped lead the dwarfs back to the city of Erebor and rebuild the great city. Along with the dwarfs the residents of Dale also returned.

Everyone knew that the chance of a dragon attacking could happen again, but the great cities were too much; everyone just wanted to go home.

The two cities grew together, becoming even bigger than they were before. Dale's towers seemed taller, and the population seemed to have boomed. All the dwarfs from the Blue Mountains returned along with more from various cities as well as all the humans. It was all thanks to the Queen of Erebor.

Yes, Thorin Oakenshield helped too. But it was his wife who really pushed him to be involved not just with Erebor, but also with Dale. The Queen made sure Thorin did not neglect the cities rebuilding. She knew If Dale came back; both cities would thrive and grow (and right she was.) She frequently visited to town and conversed with the residences, making sure everything was going ok. She was a loved figure and everyone was happy when she came to visit.

At the time everyone was actually wondering when the King and Queen would come visit, for they always came to this festival every year.

It was a beautiful and prosperous time.

A group of small boys are running around the entrance of the city. A young girl steps up to them with her wooden sword.

"Oi! can I play along?" She grins waving her sword in their direction. The boys stop and stare at one another before laughing.

"_You_ can't play fight with us you're a girl! You'll just get hurt and cry like a big baby," one of the boys say.

The girl stomps her foot and frowns, "I will not cry! I want to fight just like you boys!"

The tallest boy points his toy sword at her, "Then you have to be the ugly troll! And we don't like trolls!" All the boys agree and pull out their swords.

"That's not fair!" she yells, her eyes welling up a bit.

"No, that's not very fair at all is it?" they hear a woman's voice.

The group turns around and sees the King and Queen of Erebor.

Thorin Oakenshield is standing back with a bemused look on his face while his wife walks forward, her hands on her hips.

"I'll have you boys know I fought along with 13 dwarfs, _all male_, and ended up just fine," she bends down to be eye level with them. They all just stare at her, mouths agape. "Would you lads be willing to let her tag along? I bet she'd make a great addition."

The little girls face erupts into a huge grin. The queen turns her head towards her and gives her a reassuring smile, "What's your name sweetie?"

"My names Lily!" She pats her chest with her sword, "And I want to go adventures like you, Lady Ida!"

Ida beckons her closer, "Want to know a secret miss Lily?" The little girl nods enthusiastically. "You need to tell those boys what to do, us girls know best when it comes to adventuring," she says with a wink.

Lily giggles before turning to the boys.

"C'mon, lets go on an adventure!" The boys point their swords in the air and let out a roar before following Lily off into the crowd.

Ida chuckles to herself before gingerly standing back up. She winces when her right knee locks up for a second.

"Are you alright Ida?" Thorin is there in a heartbeat to lend her an arm to lean on. Ida gratefully takes it with a smile. She turns to face her husband, and places a kiss on his cheek.

"I'm better now," she says before they slowly start walking through the city, cheering at their arrival.

**This was just a short introduction into the story, but please read and review!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

_30 years earlier…_

"What do you want to do today? Go back to Bree and go shopping? Go fishing down by the stream? Oh I know. You want to not do anything and not pay attention to a word I say."

Ida feels the mares tail flick slightly.

"You're about the most boring pony I've ever ridden on," she sighs, giving up trying to talk to her pony. She knew it was a useless cause in the beginning but hey, when you travel alone you needs someone to talk to.

This tends to happen quite a bit considering how lonesome traveling can be. It's hard to find anyone that's wants to tag along. Well, anyone not creepy…

Along the East road (well Ida's traveling west now, would that make it the West road?) there aren't to many travelers when you leave Bree. Especially when traveling to the west, far away from anything exciting. And that's exactly what Ida wants no matter how boring it gets (and no matter how much she complains and being bored.)

Ida has comes to terms with herself long ago that she is a big ol' hypocrite.

And even though adventures are the one thing she wants to avoid, she is unknowingly going towards one. (Or maybe she does know?)

Ida glances around at the unfamiliar part of the road taking in the beauty. The rolling hills to the far west with little pillars of smoke sticking up into the sky now and again. "Lets see, that must be The Shire." She thinks aloud, wondering what on earth they were doing to have their fires going at this time of day. Although, she realizes, it's probably just their lunchtime.

To the south she sees a small alcove of mountains surrounded by a small forest. "Hmmm, I think that may be the old forest. I do wish I had a map on me though, it would make this a lot easier," she ponders. But who is she kidding, she had memorized Middle Earth maps long ago.

Then she see's open lands with a small river running through to the North with a few for miles; nothing to remarkable, but beautiful all the same.

The gently breeze is comforting on this hot mid summers day.

She pulls her navy green backpack off her back and begins digging through it. "Hmm I know it's in here… ah ha! Found you!" She triumphantly pulls out a hair tie before throwing her backpack back on her shoulders. She throws her messing hair in a ponytail in a fluid motion.

Ida is a normal human woman in most aspects. She's, well, human for one. Completely 100% bona fide human, no weird middle earth species in her. She's a short 5" tall with a figure. She wasn't skinny nor was she fat, she was muscular (don't ask her how, Ida laughs at the thought of exercising.) Those muscles were never put to use; she couldn't fight to save her life.

On top of her head is a mess of thick brown hair. It can't even be considered curly or straight, just a big mess. Which is why it's constantly in a ponytail to try and keep it out of the way. Her eyes are also brown, though not as dark as her hair and almond in shape. Her nose was a little large, and her lips were a little too small. It's as if the features belonged on different faces and were mashed together on her face.

Don't get any wrong ideas though she isn't ugly; she just isn't some super model. She just has a unique face; definitely does not look like the girl next door. Her features just make her look constantly angry. "It's just my face I swear I'm not mad!" is one of the first things she'll say when she meets someone new.

There's a lot more to her, but lets just discover them as we go along.

She spies a cart coming towards her from the West and waves a friendly hello as they pass. The male hobbit stops his cart along side her "Hello miss! You don't seem to be from around here are you lost by any chance?" he asks with a smile.

"No thank you sir! I am just exploring the land," she returns the smile.

Of course though, as per hobbit nature, the elderly hobbit fusses and makes sure she is safe and has enough provisions for her journey ("My you barely have enough food for more than two breakfasts!") He gives her a new skin of water and a few seed cakes before continue towards Bree.

Ida continues down the road with a content smile on her face.

Ida shields her eyes from the sun, searching the far end of the road for anyone else traveling along. Not a soul in sight.

"Maybe I could go south and go explore around Rohan, I know there are places I haven't been before. What do you think?"

The mare doesn't even bother to flick her tail in response.

"Times like these _really_ make me wish I still had a car…"

Ida sighs and has the mare stop along the road so she can get off. She pulls off her backpack once again and starts rummaging before she finds a book. She stares at the cover for a second before she continues rummaging. While looking she hears a twig snap.

Ida swivels her head, reaching for her pocketknife, but realizes it's just her pony venturing off the road to eat some grass.

"Ugh! I'm getting rid of you as soon as I can! Can't you stay still for once?" Ida groans and gives up trying to find her sunglasses in her backpack and puts it back on her back. (I don't know what it is about women and not being able to find their things in their packs…)

Ida walks into the grass and pulls on the pony's reins to get her back onto the road before hopping back on.

"We should probably head back towards Bree…" Ida ponders. She knows she shouldn't be out this way, but she's always been one to not care about consequences. So instead of turning around (like she _knows_ she should) she continues towards the west.

They continue to slowly trot along the road. Ida relaxes against the mare's neck, drifting slightly in a boredom-induced daze. Then, out of the corner of her eye, Ida see's a figure riding their horse up ahead. Ida quickly sits up and takes the reins in her hand, flicking them furiously.

"Mush! C'mon for once move faster you stupid pony! No more trotting along!"

The pony looks up at her before slowly picking up its pace.

"_I swear this pony is being stubborn on purpose. If I didn't know better she knows exactly what I say about her…" _she glares at the back of her pony, who Ida refuses to give a name to.

As they draw nearer Ida starts to make out the person in front of her. It's a tall individual with a pointed gray hat and a matching gray cloak. A staff is being carried in one hand as they move along the road. And, if she wasn't mistaken, she could see puffs of smoke trailing behind the figure. Such an unmistakable character.

"Hey Gandalf!" Yells Ida with a grin on her face. Gandalf stops his horse and turns around to see who is calling after him. Ida is waving furiously as she approaches.

"My, if it isn't Ida! I haven't seen you in a very long time," a smile spreading on his face as she finally catches up to him. When she catches up Gandalf turns back around and they slowly continue west along the road.

"Where are you off to if I may ask," Gandalf asks as he took another puff from his long pipe.

"Well I was in Bree for a short little shopping trip and I don't really feel like going home. I was thinking about going south toward Rohan, but I have been down there many times. Maybe go towards Grey Havens and see what's all over there?" she rubs her chin in thought.

Gandalf glances at her sideways. "Ida, you do know where this leads don't you?"

Ida lowers her hand and looks at Gandalf, her happy mood slowly going away and the smile dropping from her face. "Yes, I do. I knew exactly what I was doing. But I couldn't help it. And I guess fate had a way of having me venture out this way today. I met you for god's sake and I know exactly why you're here.

"I keep telling myself to head south but I haven't turned yet now have I? I guess that's what I get for being ignorant," she pats the mare's neck, her eyes not really focusing on anything.

"I am sorry Ida, I hope you know I did not make you come out this way. You made it clear to me you wanted nothing to do with the adventure and I respect those wishes."

"I know Gandalf. But I have a feeling I will become a part of it anyways. Especially if I get the chance to meet everyone and they're how I picture them to be."

Gandalf smiles "Well just remember I won't make you do anything."

Ida smiles as well, although it doesn't quite reach her eyes. "I know."

They continue silently towards the west as the sun passes slowly towards the horizon.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

While the two travels along, there is an awkward silence among them. Ida wants nothing more than to chitchat now that she's in the company of a friend, but her sour mood won't allow it. And Gandalf, sensing that sour mood, isn't about to be the first to start the conversation.

Gandalf and Ida pass over a bridge, the thumps of the hooves drowning out the noise of the awakening night. The sun was almost completely gone casting beautiful shades of color across the… clouds?

"Wait, when did clouds show up?" Ida ponders out loud, finally breaking the silence between the pair. She could've sworn there hadn't been a cloud in the sky the entire day.

"Miss Ida, we have been walking towards them for a while now. I do say it may rain later."

Gandalf takes another puff of his pipe, ignoring Ida's grumpy glare in his direction. Ida turns her head back towards The Shire.

Oh The Shire. The one place Ida wished to avoid on this one night in particular. She still doesn't understand out of all the times she could've visited, her terrible luck made tonight the night it happened.

"Gandalf, have you already met Bilbo about the adventure yet?"

"Yes, I went and visited him yesterday. I left a mark on his door to alert the other of which house is his."

Ida snickers, "Oh man he's going to be furious when he see you!"

Gandalf's eyes crinkle into a smile but he doesn't say anything.

Soon the two are no longer traveling on a stone road, but on dirt one. With the sun finally below the horizon Ida sees almost all the chimneys start up, as everyone gets ready for supper. Each little hole in the hill is lit up showing families eating together merrily among one another. It's such a simple life style, yet you rarely see a frown among the hobbits.

"It's so pretty here. I would like to live here if I had a chance. It's so much quieter and peaceful than a city," Ida thinks aloud.

They continue about another 30 minutes before they arrive in Hobbiton. Ida can tell this is Hobbiton by the fact that there's a huge hill dotted with hobbit holes. At the very top of the hill she sees a green door with a brass handle directly in the middle. And if she wasn't mistaken, there was a faint blue glow in the lower right corner of the door.

Ida stops her pony immediately at the bottom of the hill.

"Gandalf, I don't even know what I'm going to say. What if I spill some secrets? What if I accidently give to many details away? Would they even let a girl come along? Wait would you even want me to come along? I don't even know if _I_ want to-"

"One question at a time Ida!" Gandalf scolds. He gets off his horse and holds out his hand to help Ida down. When they are down he ties his horse and her pony near a pony shelter that has a surprising number of ponies in it already.

"I know you are perfectly capable of keeping your secrets hidden," He holds out his arm for Ida to take. She stares at it reluctantly before sighing and looping her arm through his. They start the walk up the hill before Gandalf continues, "and we will just have to convince them that you are necessary for the adventure now won't we?"

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"Hm… we can say you are a very good cook."

Ida stares at Gandalf. "Really? That's the best you've got?" No response. "Well I don't have anything better," Ida admits.

As they approach the door, they all of a sudden hear a noise behind them.

"Mister Gandalf!"

They turn around and come face to face with eight dwarfs. The one in the front with a large nose and a white beard is waving in his direction. He speaks again, "I hope we aren't late! Bumbur had to stop and grab some food so it took us a bit longer than- my, hello miss! I almost didn't see you there! Dori, at your service. And you are?"

Ida is dumbstruck. These dwarves don't look like how she pictured in the books. Is that really Dori? Who's the one with the floppy hat? Jeez, that one dwarf looks like he escaped from a mental hospital. Oh that's definitely Bumbur he's huge…

Ida hears Gandalf clear his throat. She looks up at him, her mouth slightly agape, and see's a disappointing look on his face.

"Oh? Oh!" She lets go of his arm and steps forward, curtsying ever so slightly. "Ida, at your service. Sorry, I was just in awe for a second, there are so many of you!"

A smile passes over Dori's face. "That's ok Miss Ida! Let me introduce you to everyone. This is Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bombur, Bofur and Bifur." Pointing out each individual dwarf. Before she has a chance to greet them again chaos erupts.

"My you are a pretty lass! Are you human?"

"Where'd you find her Gandalf? She looks puny."

"Don't go calling random strangers puny Gloin! Where are your manners!?"

"I heard there's going to be a feast. I do hope so, I'm hungry."

"Dulaz!"

In the commotion to try and talk to Ida/get to the door, the dwarfs end up smashed against the door. Ida tries and answer question and not get offended when all of a sudden the door swings open and all the dwarfs fall on top of each other as they fall through the entrance.

There in the entrance is one very irritated looking Bilbo Baggins.

#

"_That little incident outside wasn't chaos. Nowhere close. _THIS_ is chaos," _thinks Ida to herself as she dodges another piece of flying food.

She was currently shoved between Kili and Ori trying not to get hit by pieces of flying food and the occasional piece of silverware. She would normally be having a good time if she weren't so confused as to what's going on.

"_This must be more like the movie than the book. Damn it all, the movie just started filming before I came here. What am I going to do if it follows the movie? Where the hell is Thorin Oakenshield for that matter? He should've been here with the rest of them. I have no idea how much stupid Hollywood producers changed it…" _

"What's wrong lass?" questions Kili before chucking another piece of food at Dwalin.

"I need another pint," she mutters while resting her check on her hand.

"Allow me. Over here brother!" He calls to Fili whose currently walking on the table passing them out. Kili grabs it and hands it to Ida. "Here ya go," he says with a wink.

Ida can't help but chuckle at how charming he's trying to be. She starts to lighten up a bit and even chugs her mead like the rest of the group, laughing when Ori obviously wins the whole burp competition.

Ida sits back and pats her full tummy wondering if the dwarfs would sing their silly clean up song. She can't help but grin when her plate is picked up and thrown down the line and their merry song is being sung

"_Atleast I'm not missing _some_ good parts of the book. Lets keep it up universe, shall we?"_


	4. Chapter 4

**Please review and tell me how you like the story! Thanks so much to all of those who have read it so far!**

Chapter 4

All the laughing stopped abruptly with a knock on the door. Everyone turns and looks at the door, and Ida hears Gandalf mutter, "He is here."

Ida can only assume that Thorin must have finally showed up, but can't understand why the mood turned so sour. Was this Thorin so much worse than the one from the book? It's disappointing when he's the one person she had wanted to meet. She would never admit to anyone that she had a crush on a fictional character, especially a dwarf; even worse, a dwarf from a _children's fairytale_.

Ida takes her time to get up while everyone else heads over to the door. She hangs out at the back of the group when the door opens revealing a very handsome dwarf. He was a bit taller than all the other dwarfs and held himself up very high. His long black hair hung down his back, silver hair accenting it in such a graceful way. Even if she had met all the dwarfs at once, she could have picked Thorin out automatically.

Ida feels her cheeks get flush when she realizes he's even better looking than how she imagined him in the books.

"I wouldn't have found this place at all if it wasn't for the mark on the door," Thorin remarks while taking his traveling cloak off. His voice was gruff and low, making Ida swoon a little more. Thankfully for her he doesn't even see Ida towards the back of the group. She ducks to make sure she is kept hidden from view.

"Hey Ori," she whispers to the dwarf next to her, no longer paying attention to what's being said, "how come Thorin didn't show up when you guys did?"

"He was in a meeting with our kin in the North, Miss Ida," He tells her with a smile before turning around to laugh at whatever Thorin had said.

Everyone walks back into the dinning room, but Ida stays behind, slipping away unnoticed. She sees them head for the dining room, but instead of following she grabs her backpack off the hook by the front door. She quietly opens the front door and steps outside. She welcomes the cool night breeze after being stuffed in the house with all the dwarfs.

She sits down on a bench in front of Bilbo's house and opens her backpack. Digging through the book, she eventually finds a book covered in red paper and a pencil. Ida opens it up to the last page she was on, about three-fourths of a way through, and starts writing.

Ida only writes about 3 sentences before reading aloud what she had written down, making a couple of tweaks here and there, making it as perfect as possible. When she's satisfied it's perfect she reads it aloud one more time. She quietly sits there for a minute afterwards before putting the book back into her backpack.

She leans back on the bench, resting her hands behind her head. "Oh well Ida, one of these days it'll work," she thinks aloud.

Ida once again takes in the view around her. The rolling hills, the lights dotting the landscape from all the hobbit holes. The stars where visible through the clouds, helping illuminate the night. It was another thing nice about this world. It was always so calm and quiet at night.

Which makes her question _why_ she's still trying to hard to leave it. Maybe it was just habit by now? She wasn't sure. She was even less sure on what the hell she was going to do once she got back.

Ida looks around when she hears the door creak open. There in the doorway was Gandalf.

"Ida! This is where you've run off too. Come on inside, Thorin would like to meet you."

"Does he actually want to meet me or does he not have a choice?"

Gandalf just smiles and walks back inside. Ida feels the heat rise to her cheeks again.

"_Keep it together Ida, don't look like a fool in front of him."_

#

"Absolutely not."

"Thorin, Miss Ida could be a value-"

"I will not have a woman be apart of this company and that's final," Thorin crosses his arms over his chest and glares at Ida. She turns her face away to try and hide her laughter but fails.

Thorin's glare intensifies, which is quite a feat, "And what do you find so funny?"

"Just how stereotypically male you are," she laughs. Now she crosses her arms with a smirk on her face, "I knew you weren't going to easily let me come along but don't be so predictable."

"Who do you think you are?" he snarls.

"_Wow, his temper is _so_ much worse in real life than in the book. Do I really even want to tag along?"_ Ida thinks to herself.

Ida turns to Gandalf. "Gandalf, it's sweet and all you wanted me to come but I'm not going to argue with Thorin over this. He is, after all, the leader of the company."

"I will not pressure you to be a part of the company Ida. I do insist though you at least travel with us along the East Road for a while before you head south towards Rohan." Did Ida see a wink on the old wizards face? "Which means you are under my care. Which also means Thorin does not have a say on whether you go or not." With that Gandalf nods in Thorin and Ida's direction and ducks out of the room.

Ida turns towards Thorin and gives small shrug. "Sorry, looks like you're stuck with me."

Thorin just glares at her without saying a word before walking away.

"Boy Ida, you meet your favorite book character and he hates you. You need to work on your social skills," she sighs.

She walks around the corner (following Gandalf's trail) into a room where all the dwarfs minus Thorin and Balin are sitting.

She sits in an open armchair next to Fili and Kili. Fili looks up at her and flashes a smile. "Don't worry Miss Ida. Uncle's just a hot head. And he's just concerned. It's a dangerous mission you know full or horrors you couldn't even imagine," he says dramatically.

Ida giggles, "I know I know. I'm not mad, I kind of expected it actually I'm not a fighter I would probably just get in the way anyways."

"We'll protect the lass won't we?" Kili yells getting a yell back from the dwarfs paying attention or a curious glance from those who weren't.

"Thanks Kili, that's very kind of you," she says with a grin. _"Don't let one silly, yet incredibly handsome, dwarf ruin all the fun." _She thinks to herself.

"I _am _a bit surprised you are tagging along," Dwalin says with a stone glance in her direction.

Ida shrugs, "It's what Gandalf wants. Honestly, I was just going to be in Bree but Gandalf asked me to tag along to The Shire."

Well, she's not being completely honest, but the dwarfs don't need to know that.

"It'll be fun. To Ida! For being an unofficial part of the company! Cheers!" Everyone but Dwalin raises their glass before chugging their ale.

"Where are you from Ida, if I may ask? Your accent is, well different," Ori asks sheepishly after he finishes his cup. With that, everyone's attention turns towards her.

"From a land far, far away."

"Oh come now, what's it called?"

"Ida taps her chin in thought, "Hmmm I'm from a place not of middle earth. I wouldn't even know where to begin to tell you about it. It would certainly take longer than one night to tell you about it."

"Good thing you have a good while to tell us then," Fili grins.

Ida just smiles back. She enjoys herself that night, making friends with all the dwarfs in the company. Not once during the night does she remember all the hardships they're going to face once the quest begins. Nor does she remember the lives that will be lost.


End file.
